Visual aids can be incredibly helpful when we are attempting to learn something. This is especially true when the subject matter at hand is as complex as the Qabalistic Tree of Life with its various occult correspondences.

Learning the Tree of Life can be a daunting task; the purpose of this stickied thread is to provide you with visual tools and practical exercises that will break down the endeavour into smaller, more manageable tasks and assist you on the Qabalistic Path.

The exercises that follow make use of the following blank Tree of Life diagram:

Blank Tree of Life Diagram

Feel free to print out a number of copies of the diagram for yourself. Once you have done so, there are a number of ways that you can use it. Here are a few exercises you can use with these Blank Trees of Life to learn various pieces of Qabalistic knowledge:

Exercises
From Philosophadam:

Fill in the Names and Numbers of the Sephiroth (English, transliterated Hebrew, Hebrew letters)

Fill in the Hebrew Letters for each Path, as well as their main meanings, and numerical values (e.g. Aleph - Ox - 1)

Colour in different Trees according to the different Colour Scales for the Four Worlds (King, Queen, Prince, Princess Scale) (see below for a resource to help with this)

Fill in the Elemental, Planetary, and Zodiacal associations for each of the Paths

Fill in the Tarot Trump associations on each of the Paths

Colour the Tree of Life (Sephiroth and Paths) according to the Minutum Mundum diagram

I like your idea. I also like to make my own Correspondence Tables as I'm studying and meditating, instead of using premade tables like 777.

Here are some basic exercises for a blank tree:
- Fill in the names of gods of different pantheons (e.g. Ganesha, Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Odin in Hod)
- Fill in the names of the hebrew God (e.g. Eheieh Asher Eheieh in Kether)
- Fill in the G:. D:. grades (e.g. Adeptus Minor in Tiphareth)

I like your idea. I also like to make my own Correspondence Tables as I'm studying and meditating, instead of using premade tables like 777.

Here are some basic exercises for a blank tree:
- Fill in the names of gods of different pantheons (e.g. Ganesha, Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Odin in Hod)
- Fill in the names of the hebrew God (e.g. Eheieh Asher Eheieh in Kether)
- Fill in the G:. D:. grades (e.g. Adeptus Minor in Tiphareth)

Excellent exercises, Tibuda; thanks for sharing them. I have updated the original post to include them and given you credit for your suggestions.

Does anyone else have any additional exercises to contribute?

Frater S.C.F.V.

"People mostly turn to [non-theurgic] magic for three purposes, or combinations thereof: love, prosperity and revenge, or to get laid, get rich or get even." --Caliban

hmm... Binah is Understanding. Where as in your link it's going on about Death? I haven't heard that one before?

I only provided the link for its information about the colour scales; I don't quite understand why this particular author chose to associated Binah with the illusion of death (note, they don't write Binah: Death, but Binah: illusion - death). There is nothing suggesting that either in Franz Bardon or in the traditional Golden Dawn sources (specifically, I mean the Order papers and Z documents) that makes this connection, nor have I been able to find a clear link between that view and earlier Jewish sources.

This particular author seems to have their own idiosyncratic system of sephirotic correspondences; you will notice that they ascribed a particular illusion type to each of the sephiroth. Perhaps they meant that it is the 'illusion of death' that is associated with this sephirah, since it is 'understanding' that banishes this illusion? That is my best guess on the issue.

With that said, their Colour Scales are indeed the traditional ones.

Take care,
Adam

Edited by Philosophadam, 28 November 2010 - 04:16 PM.

Frater S.C.F.V.

"People mostly turn to [non-theurgic] magic for three purposes, or combinations thereof: love, prosperity and revenge, or to get laid, get rich or get even." --Caliban

Dion Fortune in "The Mystical Kabalah" also relates Binah to Death. I don't have the book in hands right now, but it is because Binah-Saturn gives shape and life, and that's all you need to die. Something in the lines of "Birth is the start of the Death". In that particular link, the illusion of Death is related to Binah, probably because it is above the Daath abysm that could not be crossed while we are still alive in some traditions.

Yes I have seen Binah linked to growth from birth, and thus linked to Saturn for time, however the death aspect of saturn is not linked to Binah, Im assuming this is a further association made because of Saturn being linked with Death elsewhere. Concerning Binah however it is quite incorrect in terms of what it traditionally stands for as it is the beginning and the growth that is important.

I see the link was a part of some tarot cards thing tho, some artists interpretation not understanding the original meaning which has probably spawned the misassociation? Pretty much why I don't take picture cards seriously in the first place.

hmm... Binah is Understanding. Where as in your link it's going on about Death? I haven't heard that one before?

It is an association of ideas from the G.D. correspondences where Binah ≈ Saturn, Saturn ≈ Time, Limitation, Endings & Death.

The Tarot Trump XIII, Death, instead maps to the 24th Path of Nun and the astrological sign of Scorpio, FWIW.

There is also the tradition that the Supernals are purely transpersonal Sephiroth, e.g. can only be experienced through liberation from identification with the ego-self, hence one must "die" - release one's notion as an entity differentiated from others - to rise past the Abyss. Conversely, a soul on its way to incarnation at this point accepts limitation into the experience of the Universe as a distinct entity, thus subject to eventual dissolution.

"There is a crack, a crack through everything. That is how the light gets in." -- Leonard Cohen

The Golden Dawn have left behind the Kaballah completely on that one then. I think that's the problem with too many association links, pretty soon your incompassing Bart Simpson into your Sky Coyote rituals because they both come from America. Binah was only linked through growth by the birth aspect originally and could not directly then be linked with death as it would be a link of a link through life, which in turn with give the opposite of what it represented in the first place, at least by traditional thinking. I suppose the Saturn link with Scorpio is also death related due to its 8th House representation but once again Im not sure that fits either, especially once the death aspect is dropped as Saturn itself has little to do with Scorpio.

Dion Fortune in "The Mystical Kabalah" also relates Binah to Death. I don't have the book in hands right now, but it is because Binah-Saturn gives shape and life, and that's all you need to die. Something in the lines of "Birth is the start of the Death". In that particular link, the illusion of Death is related to Binah, probably because it is above the Daath abysm that could not be crossed while we are still alive in some traditions.

I really need to continue reading Fortune's masterwork soon... I began it but got caught up in other things. Thanks for filling in where my knowledge is lacking, Tibuda.

Caliban said:

It is an association of ideas from the G.D. correspondences where Binah ≈ Saturn, Saturn ≈ Time, Limitation, Endings & Death.

The Tarot Trump XIII, Death, instead maps to the 24th Path of Nun and the astrological sign of Scorpio, FWIW.

There is also the tradition that the Supernals are purely transpersonal Sephiroth, e.g. can only be experienced through liberation from identification with the ego-self, hence one must "die" - release one's notion as an entity differentiated from others - to rise past the Abyss. Conversely, a soul on its way to incarnation at this point accepts limitation into the experience of the Universe as a distinct entity, thus subject to eventual dissolution.

This was my first impression... that it was more the association with Saturn that gave rise to the "illusion of death" connection rather than to Binah as such. A number of valences of meaning are open to us in regards to interpreting this idea of the 'illusion of death'; it can mean that since the soul is immortal, there is no real death; it can mean that one must undergo a spiritual 'death' in order to realize the all-encompassing, seamless unity of Kether; it can mean that we must transcend the notion of self as separate, a notion to which Caliban so eloquently draws our attention here. In short this term, as in nearly every meaningful term in the occult, is multivalent and there is value in recognizing this.

Take care,
Adam

Frater S.C.F.V.

"People mostly turn to [non-theurgic] magic for three purposes, or combinations thereof: love, prosperity and revenge, or to get laid, get rich or get even." --Caliban

I've found that Fortune's Mystical Qabalah had a number of associations and far fetched ideas in it that aren't very helpful for those of us living here on Earth (she reaches too far in parts), not to mention the book is tad bit boring. I didn't get much out of it.
Now, I've noticed that very few people who study the Hermetic Qabalah (as opposed to the strictly Judaic one) actually know how to get out a straight edge and a drafting compass and actually draw the diagram up, which is recommended because it allows you to see and understand the underlying structure of the diagram.

Now, I've noticed that very few people who study the Hermetic Qabalah (as opposed to the strictly Judaic one) actually know how to get out a straight edge and a drafting compass and actually draw the diagram up, which is recommended because it allows you to see and understand the underlying structure of the diagram.

I was wondering why this post on my blog kept getting 1-3 hits a day, and became one of the most popular posts of 2010. Apparently, lots of people wanted to see the method for drawing the Tree of Life on my blog. I'm glad that I did the exercise in a way that allowed others to see it and make use of it.

I'm also working on a scaled up version of the Sigillium Dei Aemeth of Dr. John Dee. While I haven't finished my scaled version, you can find my working notebook image here: http://www.flickr.co...m23/5291239832/

I've not included my notes on constructing it. I recommend the use of Andrew Sutton's wonderful book, Ruler and Compass published by Wooden Books. Use construction #120 on p. 35 for the internal pentagon, and construction #133 on p. 40 for the heptagons needed to draw the heptagram. The forty cells of the outer ring are each 9° wide, and the forty-nine cells of the outermost heptagon alternate 7° and 8° wide.

I'm also working on a scaled up version of the Sigillium Dei Aemeth of Dr. John Dee. While I haven't finished my scaled version, you can find my working notebook image here: http://www.flickr.co...m23/5291239832/

Probably not. I've had pretty good results with just paper, for one. For another, working with leather isn't an area of expertise for me. Paper is. That said, I'd like to learn to work in leather and/or parchment, eventually, for doing the Solomonic pentacles. I'm just not there yet.

It's on virgin parchment in the Key of Solomon. yea I get it differs for Dee's version I was just wondering. Not sure what it is in the Liber Juraus where it stems from. Working with skin is just the same as paper. You can get some skin here: http://www.goldcoast...CFcxO4QodkjVMZQ